


when a catgirl loves a horse girl very much...

by clicheusername5678



Series: Catradora Oneshots [18]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Therapy Cat Melog (She-Ra), catra's apology tour 2k20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clicheusername5678/pseuds/clicheusername5678
Summary: catra and swift wind have a chatthis fic was requested on twitter in support of the los angeles bail project
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Catradora Oneshots [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1264781
Comments: 5
Kudos: 250





	when a catgirl loves a horse girl very much...

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was requested by @tonyluvbot on twitter in support of the los angeles bail project. if you're interested in requesting a fic and donating , please see:  
> https://twitter.com/forestfigment/status/1267078818147323904?s=20  
> if you're not on twitter but you'd like to donate, please comment on this fic and i will reach out. thanks, stay safe, and stay well!

It’s been three months since Catra saved the world by kissing Adora on the mouth. Three months since Catra joined the Rebellion—although there isn’t much to rebel against anymore. Three months since she found Melog, since Shadow Weaver died, since Horde Prime chopped off her hair. 

The hair is growing back. Catra’s growing, too. 

She’s made a lot of mistakes in the past, obviously. Some nights she can’t even sleep, remembering things she’d done to spite Adora, Shadow Weaver, and Etheria at large. Some days she hides within Bright Moon castle, unable to face the princesses whose kingdoms she once sought to destroy. Actually  _ destroyed _ , in Mermista’s case. 

She has Melog, who always seems aware of her emotional state. She’s just recently started to talk to Perfuma about some of her less pleasant feelings and traumas, stuff she would normally only tell Adora. As a general rule, she’s getting used to taking two steps forward, then one step back. 

Take yesterday, for example: while drinking her morning coffee, Adora told Catra that Swift Wind, her ridiculous soul-bonded talking horse, was demanding to formally meet her. Swift Wind is just another part of Adora’s new princess life that Catra has slowly tried to embrace in the last few months. The people, like actual human people, Catra can handle… but an obnoxious enchanted flying horse? That’s a little more challenging. And confusing, since Catra still isn’t 100% sure what a horse even is. 

Still, she loves Adora, and she wants to make things right—no exceptions. She has a place here, she tells herself over and over, but she needs to  _ earn _ it. She doesn’t want to phone it in, doesn’t want to perform. Catra honestly hopes to make it up to the people she’s hurt, people she now calls her friends. 

So here she is, approaching the Bright Moon stables, requesting an audience with their sole occupant. Catra recalls that stables are intended to  _ contain _ animals, but this one seems more like a house than a cage. Adora did say that Swift Wind was his own horse, whatever that means. 

Catra glances at the wooden door and raises an eyebrow. A doorbell? Seriously? 

She takes a breath and presses it, trying to remember if horses can open doors. Adora showed her some pictures, and she’d seen Swift Wind at a distance, but she can’t quite picture whether he has hands or claws or… 

Hooves. 

“Oh,” Swift Wind says with disdain, holding the door open with a weird handle that had Entrapta written all over it. “It’s  _ you _ .” 

Catra gets a feeling very familiar to her now, a specific mixture of guilt, anxiety, and the tiniest hint of disdain. “Can I come in? I, uh, haven’t really introduced myself.”

Swift Wind rolls her eyes but allows Catra inside. The stable is cool and dark, walls lined with massive bales of hay and stockpiles of apples. 

“They’re not all for me,” Swift Wind says, noticing Catra’s observation. “I distribute them amongst all the horses in Thaymor.”

“Thaymor,” Catra says quietly. “That’s where…”

“Adora left the Horde and embraced her destiny as She-Ra? Enchanted me, an average steed, into the Rebellion hero you see today?”

“I was going to say ‘abandoned me,’” Catra says mutters between gritted teeth, “but that works, too.” 

She knows it’s not that simple. She knows it’s unfair to say. She doesn’t mean it, but when she feels threatened it’s always been her default to make some snide, biting comment. She’s getting better, but still unlearning. 

Swift Wind looks Catra up and down. “So, you and Adora are… dating? Coupled? Engaged?” 

Catra blushes. “Uh, not engaged. Not yet.”

“Not yet?” Swift Wind exclaims, eyes wide. “You’re Adora’s future wife, and she hasn’t even bothered to introduce us?” 

“No, that’s not her fault! And I have no idea about the wife thing, forget I said anything about that. Adora wants me to meet you, that’s why I’m here.” 

“So you’re just talking to me because Adora told you to,” Swift Wind challenges. 

“That’s not what I—ugh, just listen!” Catra can feel herself getting angry, anxious, guilty. That sinking feeling of ‘I don’t belong here, I don’t deserve this,’ always threatening to resurface. 

“I’ve known Adora a really long time,” Catra says, slow and deliberate. “Pretty much my entire life.” 

“You don’t have to brag.” 

“I’ve loved her as long as I can remember. We used to share everything together, but then she left the Horde and made new friends, and I really, really resented that. Resented you.” 

“But I’m so loveable,” Swift Wind pouts. “Everyone knows that.” 

“Uh-huh, sure thing. Point is, I was wrong. And I hurt you guys, not to mention the planet, because I was so resentful. So, whenever I reintroduce myself now, I just… always start with an apology. I’m really sorry, Swift Wind. Sorry for that one time I electrocuted you and Adora after kidnapping the entire village of Elberon. Sorry for creating a catastrophic alternate reality that erased your existence. Sorry I hurt Adora, which I know you must have felt too because of your weird soul connection thing.”

Catra doesn’t know much about horses’ facial expressions, but Swift Wind’s seems to soften. “It’s a start,” he says earnestly. “And just so you know, the time Adora spent angry at you was nothing compared to the time she spent pining over you.  _ So _ annoying.” 

Catra grins. “Well, at least you don’t have to deal with that anymore.”

“Yeah, Melog’s happy that you two are together, too. They said you were insufferable until the battle with Horde Prime.” 

Catra cocks her head. “Wait. Melog? You know Melog?” 

Swift Wind rolls his eyes. “Yeah, they’ve only been coming here to hang out every day for the past three months.” 

“ _ What? _ ”

“They’re funny, too. They call you their ‘kitten,’ like you’re some little baby they’ve sworn to protect.” 

“ _ WHAT? _ ”

“I know, I know, Adora told me that you only let her call you that.” 

Catra balls up her fists, her face red as a tomato. Melog and Swift Wind  _ gossip _ behind her and Adora’s backs, like they’re some kind of soap opera? 

“Listen,” Swift Wind says, clearly happy to have gotten a reaction. “I’ve heard enough to know that you love Adora. You’re doing better now, and trying to make up for the not-so-great stuff you did in the past. Melog’s really proud of you, by the way.” 

“Didn’t know Melog had so much to say,” Catra breathes, “normally it’s just ‘feed me’ and ‘give me attention.’” 

“Well, that’s a big part of it too,” Swift Wind says, glancing towards the piles of apples. “I’m 90% sure they only started hanging out here because I have snacks.”

Catra laughs, actually laughs, at Adora’s ridiculous talking horse. And there’s that feeling of lightness. She hasn’t been absolved, she’ll never be fully absolved, but that’s not her goal. At the end of the day, she knows that if Adora loves these people (and horse), then she will too. Eventually. In her own way. 

“Well,” she says, “I appreciate your time. Is there… anything I can do for you?” 

Swift Wind ponders the question. “I  _ do _ need to get some of these over to Thaymor.”

“The apples?” 

“Yeah. Before Adora found me, I was a normal complacent horse. Now that I’m a revolutionary, it’s important that I make amends, inspire my comrades to fight for the lives they deserve.” 

Catra smiles. “Adora brings out the best in people. Horses too, I guess.” 

“I can see that,” Swift Wind says. “If you’re really offering, I’d appreciate your and Melog’s help distributing the apples.” 

“Of course,” Catra grins. “Let me just find them.”

She shuts her eyes tight, trying to locate Melog through their telepathic bond. “Wait,” Catra says, rolling her eyes. She walks over to one of the piles, extends an arm into thin air, and reveals the alien creature behind their cloak of invisibility. 

Swift Wind exhales loudly, impressed. 

“Well,  _ I _ sure can’t do that.”


End file.
